


Monday Morning

by ArsonEmbre



Series: Senior Year [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21598009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsonEmbre/pseuds/ArsonEmbre
Summary: Pence sets out to do something new.
Series: Senior Year [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1484090
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Monday Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this part. I just love Pence so much!

Pence sighs as he watches a dark haired girl struggle to put her combination in from afar. He knows her as Xion, but only because she's the president of the last available club in the school.

“The worst she can do is say no,” he tells himself. It’s not the best self pep talk, but he believes it enough to get his feet moving. He approaches the fuming brunet with his heart in lodged in his throat. He’s never felt more intimidated in his life, especially with her banging on her locker door with an open palm.

“Jesus, what’s wrong with this thing?!” she complains to herself.

Pence stops a couple of feet away from her. “Need some help?”

Xion looks over at him with a tired expression. “Please. I’ve been trying to get this open for two minutes. It’s not like I don’t know how to open one by now, I think it’s just stuck.”

He offers her an easy smile as he reaches up to reset the lock to zero. “I got it. What’s the number?”

“Uh, 8-13-14.”

Pence quickly turns the lock this way and that. When the combination is in, he pulls on the handle, but the locker door doesn’t budge. He gives it a few rough tugs and sighs. “Huh…”

“Yeah,” Xion mumbles. “I think I’m gonna have to change my locker or something.”

“You wanna share mine until you get another one? I have one of the long ones so I can lend the space.”

The girl releases a relieved breath. “Thanks, Pence.”

The sound of his own name catches him off guard. “You know my name?”

Xion tilts her head. “Yeah. You hang out with Roxas a lot and I know you through him. I mean, I know _ of _ you. He doesn’t really talk much about you.”

Yes. Because that makes him feel better about himself. He obviously didn’t expect for Roxas to go around telling everyone about him specifically...but it’d feel nice to not feel like the throwaway friend for once. “Right.”

“No, I mean…” Xion shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that he doesn’t talk about you because you’re not important. I mean that me and Roxas don’t talk a lot when we _ do _talk. We have really short conversations about a mutual friend from that summer program wayyy back when.”

Pence releases a breath. Okay, that does make him feel a little better. Why is he suddenly so sensitive about...never mind. It doesn’t matter. That’s not what he needs to be thinking about. “That Axel guy, right? The T.A.?”

“Yeah, him! He’s really the only thing we talk about anymore.”

He got the feeling that it wasn’t his place to ask, but… “Did you two fall out or—?”

“Oh, no. Roxas and I are still friends, I think. It’s just…” Xion leans against her locker and folds her arms over her chest. “We’re not in middle school anymore. We kind of grew apart and became interested in different things. I got busy and he got you guys.”

Pence nodded. That’s understandable. Hearing this makes him think that he’s not being sensitive at all. Maybe the “squad” is outgrowing each other. Maybe..._ he’s _ outgrowing them.

“I get that,” he says softly. “I don’t think Roxas would mind if your tried to get a little closer to him this year. He probably misses you like crazy. I know he misses Axel. He’s trying to find this Winner ice cream stick and send it to him—”

“I had the exact same idea…” Xion says. “That’s crazy.”

“Great minds think alike,” Pence grins. “Maybe you didn’t outgrow each other. You just need to make time for one another.”

Xion nods slowly. “Yeah...I think I’ll do that. Who knows, maybe I’ll make friends with the rest of the group too,” she giggles.

As Pence thinks about “the rest of the group,” he fights to hold back a sigh. Xion would no doubt get along with Olette. They kind of have similar personalities. They’d most likely team up and tease the hell out of Roxas for literally everything, and Olette wouldn’t have to feel like the mom of the group anymore. Hayner...is a different story. _ He’s _not even friends with him anymore. If Xion became a part of their group, it would turn out awkward whether she made friends with him or not.

“Maybe,” he chuckles. It doesn’t sound genuine at all and he knows that. Time to change the subject before she starts asking questions. “Hey, speaking of groups, I wanted to know if your club was still accepting members or not.”

Xion raises an eyebrow. “You bake?”

He grimaces and rubs the back of his neck. “Ah, no. I barely know how to make cup noodles if I’m being honest,” he laughs. “But I could give it a shot? I’m a quick learner and baking seems like something I can just dive into to take my mind off of things—if I can get the hang of it.”

“Baking is just following instructions and getting rewarded with tasty food if you do it right. And yeah, a lot of people in the club do it to relax. We—”

The shriek of the warning bell echoes throughout the hall, and both teens panic when they hear it.

“_Shoot _.” Xion quickly hefts her heavy-looking bag over her shoulders. “Tell you what, meet me us in the home ec room today after school. Three o’clock. And bring a spoon.”

Pence blinks. “A-A spoon?”

“Yup! I’ll explain when you get there. I’ll see you later!”

Pence doesn’t have time to watch her leave because he’s already jogging to his own class. He makes it there just in time, but is forced to take a seat behind a familiar beanie-wearing bully. He frowns as he drops his bag on the floor and takes his seat.

The late bell rings. Since the teacher isn’t here yet, the students around them continue to talk. Pence is content with just sitting quietly, but he knows that a certain bully won’t let him do that.

_ Any minute now… _

Sure enough, Seifer turns in his seat and looks back at Pence. Here it goes.

“Do you know what you’re doing in this class?”

Pence is caught off guard for the second time that day. “Um...it’s only been a week so I can’t really say, but I know I’m pretty good at math.”

Seifer narrows his eyes. “Good enough to pass the class or good enough to teach it to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing?”

Is he trying to ask for help? “Teaching it, not so much. I know Olette is good at both though. If you need some help—”

“I don’t need any help. I was asking for a friend,” the bully frowns.

“Okay? If your _ friend _ needs help, have them get with Olette. She really knows what she’s doing.”

Seifer nods, “Thanks. You’re a lot less irritating than your friend,” and turns back to face the front of the class.

“Thank you?”

“Don’t mention it. Ever.”

Although the conversation ends abruptly, Pence can’t help but wonder what he means by that. He doesn’t want to ask because, in all honesty, the less time he spends talking to Seifer, the better.

However...he gets the feeling that Seifer’s talking about Hayner. If he is, why? He never understood why Seifer and Hayner hated each other so much. When he and Hayer first mest, all he knew was that Seifer bullied him relentlessly, and anyone who dared call him a friend.

“Hayner’s not my friend anymore,” he mumbles. He doesn’t know why he does, and it feels weird to say it out loud.

“Good. You deserve better than that,” Seifer grumbles back. Pence didn’t even know he’d heard him.

He opens his mouth to ask another question when the teacher walks in. Pence sighs and sits back in his seat as the class settles down. Guess it’ll have to wait until another time.


End file.
